Beas Landscape and Settlement Survey Project

The Beas Landscape and Settlement Survey Project led by Dr. Rita Wright focuses on rural settlements of the Indus Civilization (3rd and 2nd millenium BCE), their relationship to the large Indus center of Harappa, and the human response to environmental changes that occurred during this time. Several field seasons beginning in 1995 focused on sites within the Beas River basin, a now extinct river bed that would have been active during the Indus period. Fieldwork included intensive surface sampling, limited collection strategies, and geoarchaeology. This history of landscape occupation and development, both environmental and anthropogenic, allowed researchers to chronologically link the development of rural sites with the development of the nearby urban center of Harappa, creating a holistic understanding of the large regional network in place at the time and how this network was both challenged and responded to climatic changes.